FOs and a beginning

Now that I'm feeling more human, I have a bit of catch-up to do! So, without further ado, here we go!

FO #1: Millicent seems to like the Clapotis. I don't blame her. It's warm, it's soft, it's bright. In short, it's just what I needed for these grey days of February. I've been wearing it fairly constantly since it came off the needles. Although the picture shows it with the knit side out, when I wear it, I twist it more so that both sides end up showing. Millicent poo-pooed my efforts to get her to pose with it wrapped differently, though. And yes, I already want to make another one, although Jeanie is calling me, too.

FO #2: The Palindrome scarf, destined to be a birthday present for my sister. I used Plymouth Tweed in Charcoal. I haven't washed it yet, so I know that it will soften up when I do, based on my experience with the swatch for Mr. Greenjeans (oh, wait, you'll read about that in a minute). I like how the tweed looks interesting and still allows the cables to show up nicely.

But I do have to confess that while this pattern is simple, it got boring and I was very glad to have it finished. I had more yarn and could have made it longer, but I just couldn't make myself keep going!

FO #3: Okay, this one isn't mine, but Judy stopped by the shop last week to show me her completed Wings of a Dream shawl. It's gorgeous, but then I didn't expect anything less to come off Judy's needles! She made it with Blue Moon silk thread in one of the Raven colors, holding two strands together. As she said on her blog, there's simply no way to capture the beauty of the yarn on a photograph.


Now that the Clapotis and Palindrome projects are off my needles, I came home from the Super Bowl sale at the shop and cast on for my very first sweater project. Yep, of all the things I've knit, I have never made myself a sweater.

I picked Mr. Greenjeans because (a) I think it's very cute, (b) I think it's flattering even for my larger-than-life figure, and (c) it's knit in one piece from the top down -- no seaming!

I'm using Plymouth Tweed, same as I used for the Palindrome scarf, in blue. In the forefront of the picture is my swatch. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the swatch is soooooo much nicer than the WIP! That's because I knit it up, then popped it in the washer on a cold-water delicate cycle. Since the yarn is 100% virgin wool, it fulled a little and got softer by magnitudes. If I were to look at my WIP alone, I would not like the way the sweater is going, but knowing that it will ultimately resemble the swatch makes me smile.

The difference in gauge between the washed and non-washed pieces is two stitches over four inches. Since I'm knitting the size based on the swatch measurement, I think it will work out nicely. Right now it seems huge, though, and I'm eager to get past the division point for the sleeves so there aren't so many stitches to work on each row. I'm also looking forward to being past the plain stockinette stitch portion and into the more interesting cables.

I think I have a good chance of finishing this in time for the Sea Socks cruise in May. It will come in very handy in Alaska!

Whew! I think that catches things up for now! :)